It was here that the Human Rights Council established and implemented the Universal Periodic Review.
The Universal Periodic Review also known as the UPR is a process whereby all 193 UN member states human rights records are reviewed periodically, every four years. It was established in a New York negotiations process by the General Assembly 60/251 on 15 March 2006 and implemented as part of the Human Rights Council in order to ensure equal treatment for all countries; this system is the first of its kind to exist. The establishment of this review was to enable all states to put forth ideas and actions they have developed to try and improve the rights of all of mankind in their countries. A sharing of the best human rights practices across the world is also part of the UPR. The formation of this mechanism has been approved and welcomed across the world, being described by one state as ˜an undertaking imbued with a shift from the former Commission's policies and practice of shaming to a new consensual and cooperative model of human rights evaluation'. .
TOPIC 2: What is UPR? How it Works and its Functions.
The UPR, as previously mentioned, was established as a mechanism to improve the human rights situation around the world, working from the ground up to help uphold the protection of human rights for all people in all countries across the globe, addressing violations as they arise. It addresses a broad range of human rights issues such as racial discrimination, rights of the woman, traveller rights, people with disabilities and people facing poverty.
The review is based upon but not exhaustive to the International Bill of Rights and regardless of the Treaties the state under review (SuR) has ratified it incorporates whole spectrum of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 47 members of the Council are part of a group known as the UPR Working Group; it is within this group that the review takes place.